Arrange the stages of laying one giornata of buon fresco in order.

1. Lay the rough arriccio coat and let it set
2. Transfer the cartoon for the area to be painted today
3. Lay the fine intonaco over exactly that area and no more
4. Paint into the wet plaster with pigments ground in water
5. Stop at the edge of the day's area and cut a clean join

The last step is the discipline the technique imposes. The plaster decides when the day ends, so the join must be cut where it can be hidden — along a contour, a fold, an architectural edge — and a painter who works until the plaster catches has put the seam wherever the accident fell, for ever.